Immigration

Minnesota religious leaders wrote in a letter they sent to legislators that people of faith view the referendum as an attack on democracy that reduces the number of people who can participate.

"Passage of the proposed referendum would primarily reduce voters of color, the elderly, students, poor and non-English-speaking voters. Effectively this gives more influence to a smaller number of wealthy, privileged and primarily White voters. . .

Additionally, the proposed referendum would reduce the number of poor people who could vote, for it will be people of limited economic resource, limited time and limited mobility who will have most difficulty obtaining voter identification cards. By reducing the number of poor who vote, the proposed referendum seeks to increase the political power and influence of the wealthiest and most privileged classes of our society."

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MN's Leading Election System

With Secretary of State Steve Simon

Listen to Secretary of State Steve Simon's excellent presentation on MN's outstanding election system emulated by many other states at the Think Again Brooklyns forum January 19, 2016. Secretary Simon includes ways in which it can be improved, and he explains why it is important to vote. He concludes with a quote from a tee shirt: "Failure to vote is not an act of rebellion. It is an act of surrender."

In January, Oregon became the first state in the country to begin automatically registering eligible citizens to vote when they obtain or renew their driver's licenses or state IDs, completely shifting the burden of voter registration from the individual to the government.